This study was conducted to determine if the thermal degradation of various plastic drinking water pipes (i.e., PEX, HDPE, PP, PVC, and CPVC) may be a source of drinking water contamination. Widespread volatile organic compound (VOC) contamination was found in water distribution systems following three wildfires in California. A potential source of this contamination was thought to be due to the degradation of plastic components in drinking water distribution systems. Eleven plastic drinking water pipes, across eight brands, were exposed to elevated temperatures (200 °C to 400 °C), and subsequently submerged in water or in n-hexane to observe the extent of VOC leaching. Results indicated that thermally damaged drinking water pipes can be sources of VOC leaching, with ten of the eleven materials leaching benzene, a carcinogen, into water. As exposure temperature increased, an increase in VOC leaching was observed in the polyethylene materials. Conversely, in the vinyl materials the significant mass loss associated with high exposure temperature was inversely proportional to the amount of BTEX leaching that was observed. Additional tentatively identified compounds (TICs), consisting primarily of aliphatic hydrocarbons, saturated ketones, or aromatic compounds, were found in the water (22 TICs) and n-hexane (134 TICs) leachate of burned plastics. This study has significant implications for both wildfire and structure fire recovery as plastic materials are increasingly being used in buried and building plumbing, and visual inspection is not a sufficient indicator of contamination risk.

中文翻译：

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塑料热降解引起的饮用水污染：对野火和建筑物火灾响应的影响

进行这项研究是为了确定各种塑料饮用水管（即PEX，HDPE，PP，PVC和CPVC）的热降解是否可能是饮用水污染的源头。在加利福尼亚发生三场野火后，供水系统中发现了广泛的挥发性有机化合物（VOC）污染。人们认为这种污染的潜在来源是由于饮用水分配系统中塑料组件的降解。十一塑料饮用水管，在八个品牌，暴露于升高的温度（200℃至400℃），并随后在水中或在浸没Ñ-己烷观察VOC的浸出程度。结果表明，热损坏的饮用水管可能是VOC浸出的来源，在11种材料中，有10种将苯（一种致癌物）浸入水中。随着暴露温度的升高，在聚乙烯材料中观察到VOC浸出的增加。相反，在乙烯基材料中，与高暴露温度相关的显着质量损失与观察到的BTEX浸出量成反比。附加初步确定化合物（国际信托），主要由脂肪族烃，饱和的酮，或芳族化合物，在水（22点的TIC），并发现Ñ燃烧的塑料中的正己烷（134 TICs）渗滤液。由于塑料材料越来越多地用于埋地和建筑物的管道中，因此这项研究对野火和建筑物的火灾恢复都具有重要意义，并且目视检查还不足以指示污染风险。